Meteor Shower Outside the TARDIS
by fezsarecool
Summary: Just a little one-shot I wrote a couple nights ago


I wandered around the console while The Doctor worked away at the wiring underneath. Once in awhile he would say something about the circuits or the tools he worked with, babbling on about it for ten minutes, (pretty much to himself, since I had no idea what he was talking about) before falling back into silence. This was one of those times. The only noise around us was the hum of the TARDIS console and the occasional zap of electricity beneath my feet.

I finally plopped myself down on the chair and crossed my legs, coming to the conclusion that it's better to sit with my feet up before getting shocked by the wiring. I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling, feeling bored. I wondered if I should just go upstairs and take a nap in the room with at least fifty sets of bunk beds; at least by the time I woke up The Doctor would be finished with whatever he was doing and we could get going.

But I knew I would feel bad if I left. I could always hear him talking to himself whenever we were in separate rooms. Not in the same bright, quick speech he spoke with when I was around; it was more quiet and sad than anything, perhaps even a little anxious. For that reason, I hated the thought of leaving him alone, so I decided against the nap and stayed where I was sitting.

I reached underneath the chair and picked up a tennis ball, throwing it in the air over and over again. I tossed it up, caught it with two hands. Up again, catch. Once more, this time, catching it with my right hand. I stopped and stared at the bright green ball in my hands. The real challenge would be catching it with my much weaker left hand; I accepted it nonetheless. I tossed it up, a little higher than I meant to, and held out my hand above my head. The ball hit my palm, and before I could wrap my fingers around it, it bounced onto my head and to the floor with a bang.

I cringed at the sound, expecting The Doctor to make some remark about the noise, but he only glanced at me briefly before turning his attention back to the wiring.

The ball was still rolling down the stairs and towards the door. I stood and followed it down the steps. Somehow, it had ended up right next to the window instead of the door. I knelt down and picked it up. Just as I started to turn back up to the chair, something drifting outside the window caught my attention. I knelt in front of it just as another large rock floated past gently, followed by another smaller one. I pushed my free hand against the glass and grinned like a child; it was a meteor shower.

I had witnessed meteor showers plenty of times back home. My mum and I would go to great lengths just to see them; we'd drive out to the country with blankets, flashlights, and a telescope, and sit there for hours watching them blaze past, embracing the sight of the stars and steady sounds of the night.

But this...this was just incredible. Here I was in the middle of space, watching them from a window. Literally the only thing separating me from the asteroid was a piece of glass.

"Do you want to see them?" I jumped at the sound of The Doctor's voice, having been so absorbed by the sight outside that I didn't notice him come up behind me. I looked over my shoulder. His bow tie was slightly crooked and the goggles he had been wearing were on the ground next to his tools.

"How much closer could we get?" I asked, turning my attention back to the window.

"Well, we could always just open the door."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if you need oxygen or anything, but I do. I won't exactly be able to breathe if the door is open."

"It's alright, the TARDIS will protect us," he replied, making his way to the door. I followed closely behind him.

"You have that much faith in your spaceship? I...I don't know if I want to risk that."

"It's alright," he fiddled with the lock a bit. "I've done it before."

"You've opened this door with someone else inside before? Who was it?"

The Doctor didn't reply. He continued to turn the key until it gave a satisfying click.

"There we go!" He exclaimed.

"Doctor, I don't know if-"

"It'll be fine, trust me!" He grinned and placed his hand on the handle. "Ready?" I held my breath and braced myself for a sudden lack of oxygen, but it didn't come; The Doctor pulled the door open slowly to reveal the most incredible sight I'd ever seen in my life.

Thousands upon thousands of stars burned in the distance, all around us. Asteroids floated past, some went slowly, others were fast.

"What do you think?" The Doctor asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"It's...it's better than anything I've ever seen from a telescope..." I grinned.

We both paused, enjoying the sight of the stars, of the asteroids, and the sound of the TARDIS as it drifted along, until the last few floated past.

The Doctor leaned over and pointed slightly to the right, where there were four very bright stars in a row. "Do you see those, over there?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"They're planets," he replied.

"Oh...what are they called?"

"You'll find out later, pick one."

"For what?"

"Pick a planet for us to visit."

"Oh, um..." I studied each of the four balls of light. The one furthest to the left was vivid red, burning almost as bright as the one two spaces to its' right, which was an almost alarming shade of green. The other two were relatively less prominent, one being a pale blue and the other a light yellow.

There was something about the yellow star that I felt such a strong pull towards. Maybe because it was smaller than the rest, the least bright, the least noticeable.

"That one," I said, pointing toward it.

"The blue?"

"No, the one beside it."

"Green?"

"No," I giggled. "The yellow one, furthest to the right."

"Oh, right! Well then, the TARDIS should be ready to travel in just a few minutes, be prepared, I just have to make a few adjustments!" He started to close the door.

"Wait!" I stopped him, grabbing the edge of the door. "Can I try something?"

The Doctor opened it wide again. I clutched the tennis ball in my hand and stepped forward, checking around the TARDIS to be sure it was safe.

I held out my free hand to The Doctor and squeezed it tightly. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and jumped. My instincts told me I was stupid, and I expected to fall and hit some hard surface, resulting in my inevitable death, but it didn't happen. My body was floating in space, except for The Doctor gripping my hand. There was nothing to support me either above my head or below my feet. I felt so light, so free.

I opened at my eyes, once again gazing at the stars, the planets, and the asteroids which were quite a ways away from the TARDIS now. Space...the most amazing thing anyone could ever lay eyes on. I looked back at The Doctor, who was clutching on to the door frame for support, and judging by the smile on his face, he surely knew the thoughts that were running through my mind. All I knew now was that I never wanted to give up this life and go back home.

I turned the tennis ball in my hand, and, aiming at the asteroids, arched my arm and threw it. It sailed across the dark blanket of space smoothly. The ball hit a small one at first, causing it to backpedal slightly and bounce on to another, then another, and one more, until it drifted back into the abyss. I squeezed The Doctor's hand lightly for him to pull me back inside, and he did.

My feet reconnected to the hard, metal floor of the TARDIS and I was a little surprised by my body weight. I stumbled a bit, but caught myself on The Doctor's shoulder before I could hit the floor. I couldn't help but laugh at myself when he shut the door, and neither could he.

"Quite an arm there," he observed.

I shrugged. "I think it can only be that good in space. In Berkshire it would just go straight to the ground. But anyway, this planet..."

His eyes lit up as if he'd forgotten about it in the short span of time. He clapped his hands once and rushed back to the wiring. "Just a couple more things and she'll be fine. You're going to love it, everyone there is very kind, a little diffident at first, but nice. And I should add..."

I nodded while he went on about the various quirks of the planet and sat in front of the window, staring at the small yellow planet miles from where we were. My mind wandered back to the tennis ball, and I wondered where it might end up. Surely it would just keep going, maybe landing somewhere else at some point. Even then it wouldn't stay there forever; someone or something else would find it, throw it elsewhere, then so would the next person, and so on. Forever traveling through time and space...just like I would be doing.


End file.
